Christmas 2011 was a busy period for mobile and online shopping as Hong Kong people turned to their PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones to purchase holiday gifts, helping realise PayPal's earlier forecast for the Hong Kong online shopping market to reach USD 2.5 billion by 2015. As local smartphone adoption rates continue to grow, shopping via mobile devices is skyrocketing and nearly 7 out of 10 Hong Kong people said using their mobile devices would be faster and more convenient because they can make a transaction "anytime, anywhere".

"Online shopping has reached a critical mass of popularity amongst Hong Kong shoppers, especially during the holiday season as people avoided chaotic and long queues of the shopping malls and instead turned to the internet for great bargains to fulfil their holiday shopping lists from the comfort of home," said Kerry Wong, general manager of PayPal Hong Kong and Taiwan. "This year was the first festive season for mobile shopping to become popular as Hong Kong people reached for their smartphones and tablets to enjoy the convenience of shopping anytime, anywhere. Interestingly, Hong Kong shoppers strived for a head start on their holiday shopping online starting in early December whereas mobile shopping was widely used for last-minute purchases during the week before Christmas."

First Christmas season that mobile shopping becomes popular in Hong Kong

Mobile shopping was popular driven by an increasing number of Hong Kong people going online via internet-capable mobile devices. Several interesting trends for mobile shopping by PayPal users in Hong Kong over the holiday season include:

• The busiest mobile shopping date this year was Wednesday, 21 December 2011, showing that many Hong Kong people rushed to buy gifts last-minute via their mobile devices just in time for Christmas.
• However, mobile shopping sales saw the biggest jump on Wednesday, 30 November 2011 (compared to Wednesday, 1 December 2010) highlighting that mobile-crazy Hong Kong people jumpstarted their shopping for festive deals via their smartphones and tablets a month before Christmas.
• Popular mobile shopping sites in Hong Kong during the festive season included:

1. Group-buying sites such as www.babybamboo.com.hk, www.beecrazy.hk, www.groupon.com.hk, www.jigocity.com.hk and www.travelfish.hk, showcasing that mobile devices are now enabling Hong Kong people's love for bargains via daily deals during the holidays anytime, anywhere.
2. Pacific Coffee Company’s iPhone app to pay for in-store purchases using a quick response code on their smartphones, that allowed Hong Kong people to quickly recharge in Pacific Coffee locations before heading back out to the holiday shopping madness.
3. www.givegift.com.hk, which shows that Hong Kong people in the holiday spirit also splurged for flowers and hampers for their loved ones on-the-go via their mobile devices.

Online shopping, a more convenient way to shop over the holiday season

With one of the highest broadband penetration rates in the world, Hong Kong is a digitally-savvy shopping paradise in which online shopping has become an integral part of Hong Kong people's daily lives. Some of the noteworthy online shopping trends by PayPal users in Hong Kong over the holiday season include:

• The busiest holiday online shopping date was Tuesday, 6 December 2011 showing that many Hong Kong people planned their festive buys via online sites well ahead of Christmas, as compared to Hong Kong people using their mobile devices for last-minute gift shopping during the final few days before Christmas.
• The biggest spike for online shopping was on Sunday, 18 December 2011 (compared to Sunday, 19 December 2010) highlighting that savvy Hong Kong people knew the last weekend before Christmas would be the last opportunity to buy gifts from overseas online sites and have them delivered in time for Christmas.
• Popular online shopping sites in Hong Kong during the festive season included:

1. Japanese online fashion mall, www.zozotown.com, revealing Hong Kong people's deep love for Japanese style, cutting edge clothing and accessories.
2. Discount fragrances and beauty products online retailer, www.fragrancenet.com, proof of Hong Kong people's affinity for beauty and grooming products.
3. Healthy water devices, www.enagic-asia.com, and Chinese health supplements, www.rejuveno.com, for clean and healthy lifestyle gifts for their loved ones.
4. And of course, tech-savvy Hong Kong people shopped for the latest IT gadgets from online stores such as www.ac-electronics.com.